Kuwabatake Sanjuro

16 hours ago, Kiwivillan said:

Would we be worse off with RDM still? Not that I ever wanted him

Surely at some stage Steve Clarke would have called him aside and told him that 4-1-1-4 isn't the best formation for holding onto leads. Gollini might have cut out the mistakes a bit more too.

1 hour ago, Farlz said:

Johnstone

Hutton - Chester - Baker - Amavi

Lansbury - Jedinak - Hourihane

Adomah - Hogan - Kodjia

I'm dreading this, they'll rip us to shreds. 4-0 Newcastle. 

I reckon it will be more like the Spurs cup game with the lads putting up a brave fight to keep the score down with the game finishing 2-0.

Pulis was class when on co-commentary last year doing a Spain match. Within 5 minutes he was moaning about them not making the most of set pieces.

If ITV had Mark Chapman instead of Chiles presenting then it would be the best thing on UK television. Lee Dixon takes himself far too seriously though.

As a right midfielder I'd be thinking of him achieving the level of someone like David Bentley but if he doesn't have the talent to achieve that I'm not too sure what will happen with him. One thing is for certain is that he is not developing at all under Bruce.

2 hours ago, VillaChris said:

Don't mind Townsend.

I'm also very much in the minority in that I think Savage is an o.k pundit....

Ones I can't stand are people like Phil Neville who seem to be held in high esteem due to their careers but when you actually listen to them make points on Football...you realise they don't have much of a clue.

Jenas is another who states the bleeding obvious all the time but is heralded as some great pundit as he can string a few sentences together.

I've never heard anyone say anything positive about either.

Blackburn proving that they are capable of performing to a high level today, if they beat Burton away on Friday it would be huge for them.

2 hours ago, Chindie said:

Funnily enough I've had that problem with MotD for a while. You'd be watching the highlights of a game where something controversial happened later, and the commentary would mage very pointed comments earlier in the highlights to tease or lead the narrative. It's like they recorded the commentary afterwards and swung it subtly towards telling the 'story' of the game rather than reporting what happened as it happened. 

Reninds me of

I wouldn't be a fan of Pearce but that was some serious commentating.

1 hour ago, Mjvilla said:

Well, the bielsa dream is over and done with. We will have to try the ancelloti dream instead then!! 

I read somewhere that Zeman will only retire when he dies, worth a go I reckon. Would be some culture shock for the fans and players I suppose.

Would tick most boxes:

• Would make watching Villa entertaining.
• Would set out to play football in a certain way and stick to it.
• Would improve players no end e.g. Verratti, Insigne, etc
• Would get players ultra fit.
• Has to be attainable, he regularly takes on teams in lower divisions and I'm guessing would like to prove himself in England.
• The defending can't get any more shambolic thus negating the one weakness in his sides.

I wonder is it worth trying him out on the right wing. He has failed to impose himself as a number 10, on the left wing he slows play up too much by cutting in unnecessarily and turning back too much. Put him out on the right, instruct him to put a shift in and tell whenever he creates a yard of space in the opponents 3rd to put a quality ball in. Encourage him to play through balls for Hogan and Kodjia when further out. Adomah could be used as impact sub if chasing the game.

On another note I reckon Jack is not happy with Bruce in charge. So far in his career his performances have been poor when he was unhappy with manager. Petulant I now but he has played well under Shaun Derry and Sherwood when he had a close relationship with both. He could come good with the next one. Green is still a better prospect at the moment though.

Bringing Richards back is Bruce's way of looking for a way out and be sacked. It is the only logical explanation. His lack of effort in running back for Tadic's goal last April was the worst I seen from any player last season and that is some achievement. At least Lescott tried to run.

Big win for Burton against Norwich, they are only 2 points behind now. Wigan only picked up a point at home to Preston which in itself is not a bad result for them but they are still 6 points down. QPR hammered Birmingham City to move a point ahead of Villa while Cardiff hammered Rotherham to pretty much guarantee safety for them.

The only positive result was Sheffield Wednesday beating Forest but their performance was meant to be decent. 

4 hours ago, itdoesntmatterwhatthissay said:

For two years I was broken record about Albrighton but I don't think I was wrong. We needed his crossing and energy despite him being limited.

And I don't want to be a broken record again (despite me being one on a defensive midfielders for 6 years too) but, these are our results with Jedinak in the team.
Couldn't get them all one screen but add 5 draws and 2 losses to that table when he did play.

 

We have to blood in a young defensive midfielder who plays defensive midfield rather than attack or we buy an understudy for an ageing and injury prone Jedinak.
It's one thing struggling to score but it's quite another to be loose in the middle of the park.

Worth noting that the winners against Fulham and Burton and equalizer against Leeds all occurred when he was taken off. He isn't the messiah but he does help out defensively. He has been a terrible signing given the wages he is on.

6 minutes ago, Zatman said:

would Rowett really want to come? also would he do anything better than what Bruce has done

I'd say he would want to come. He couldn't do any worse than Bruce has but I reckon there would be a limit to his ability level. I could be wrong and he could be as good as Sean Dyche but I doubt it.

6 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

You suggested that we should go foreign because all British managers are dinosaurs, I was pointing out to you that going foreign is not any guarantee of success. If I had to make an appointment now I would go for Houghton at Brighton if I was going British, preferably Wagner if I had an open choice. Would either come,............

Hughton is an unrealistic suggestion. It would be highly unlikely that any manager doing well in the English leagues will leave their jobs to come to a demoralised, struggling team that is being dragged into a relegation battle. Out of the available English managers there is only Pardew, Rowett and Warburton that jump out. Rowett would probably be the best of them but is a bit of a risk and may not be a huge upgrade on Bruce in terms of tactics. He might be better at motivating the team and bringing a bit of confidence back but I can't see him setting up a team capable of winning the Championship in the next couple of seasons.

I wouldn't be happy with Pardew or Warburton as there is too much potential for things to go downhill even more.

To find a good available manager it might be a wise decision to broaden the clubs horizons. Stephen Kenny of Dundalk would be another foreign manager I would be happy with. He breeds confidence into his players, has his teams well set up and they play a good brand of football.

Gollini conceded on average less than a goal a game in his time here.

8 minutes ago, AshVilla said:

Has he lost the dressing room?

None of the players look like they want to fight for him.

Clearly has, if he was managing a Sunday league team in the same manner wouldn't you lose confidence.(although he could argue that he is trying to give everyone a chance with his constant changes).

Just now, mykeyb said:

Wouldn't disagree but the assumption that foreign managers will mean beautiful winning football is based on what evidence.

If Brendan Rodgers (technically foreign as I reckon he travels on an Irish passport) was available I'd go for him but unfortunately there is not too many tactically astute, impressive and progressive English/British managers available at the moment. Rowett did very well in his last job but they played underdog football too, Warburton is a spoofer who was found out as a man and a manger at Rangers while Dean Smith is doing ok at Brentford and they play good football but a lot of that is down to the club.

You could take a chance on the likes of your man at Lincoln or other lower league successes but in Villa's precarious position that wouldn't be wise.

Easier to find proven tactically astute, impressive and progressive managers from abroad.

7 minutes ago, mykeyb said:

As Tony Morley said look at the players, pick a team and formation and stick to it for the next 5-6 games, sadly he will just make random changes which is akin to rearranging the deckchairs.............

Look at what Clement has done at Swansea, pretty much the same 11 since he took over bar the odd change like Dyer for Routledge and bringing Olsson in and it has worked well.

1 minute ago, Zatman said:

if he is disillusioned at Argentinian football, imagine how quick it will take him at Villa to give up football for good 

I suppose you are right.

6 minutes ago, thabucks said:

Pick a name at random..... 

http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/trainer/verfuegbaretrainer/statistik#ath

Bielsa, Marcelino, Schaaf, Paco Ayestaran, Guidolin, Juande Ramos, Prandelli, would be no harm for Steve Round to make a few phone calls to see if there is any interest.

Just now, Zatman said:

why would you swap River Plate for a 2nd division relegation battle. He will have bigger offers in the coming years

If you are willing to pay £30m+ on championship level strikers and are willing to pay the likes of Jedinak £60k a week it would be worth offering a shitload of cash to potentially world class managers. He is disillusioned with Argentinian football at the moment too for various reasons. He will probably replace Simeone eventually though.

It would be no harm to have ambition when going for the next manager.

Would Marcelo Gallardo be attainable? Has been sensational at River Plate and would speak English due to his time playing in the MLS. Be worth trying anyway.

Big win for Wigan tonight too, themselves and Blackburn are still 7 points behind but Villa are clearly the worst team in the league at the moment. Even Rotherham are showing a bit of fight these days.

It is a good thing our second half performances are always better than our first. We will come back and win 4-2 and all will be forgiven.